Interesting concept and in this off season, not beyond the realm of possibility. How hard the Sox pursue Gary Sanchez depends upon how convinced the Sox are that he will stay behind the plate. If Sanchez stays at catcher, then he would make sense for the Sox. If he has to be moved to 1B or DH, then not so much.

The Sox have a few possible trading chips with the Yankees. Yes, Gordon Beckham makes some sense but Alexei Ramirez makes even more sense, as he would give the Yanks insurance in the event that Derek Jeter breaks down which, if history is any guide, may well happen. Jeff Keppinger has some value to New York as a throw in with such a deal. The Yankees need somebody that can fill in at 1B, 2B, SS and 3B, given the fragile nature of some players (Texieria and Jeter) and the possible unavailability of one player (Rodriguez).

It wouldn't surprise me if the Sox and Yankees are talking. One more question: is Sanchez ready for the big leagues in 2014?

He only played a handful of games in AA last year, so I'd say he probably wouldn't be ready for opening day, he is only 21?? I think. But it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that he could be ready by All-Star Break.
Looking at his defensive stats, he has thrown out around 40% of baserunners, which to me seems pretty good. He does have a TON of passed balls... maybe he can't stick behind the plate.

He doesn't need to be a future star. He just needs to be a big-league 3B.

In the PCL in 2011 and 2012, Conor Gillaspie looked like a better third baseman for Fresno than Matt Davidson did for Reno in 2013. If you were to rate the two by the needs-to-be-a big-league-third-baseman standard, Gillaspie today should rank higher.

Davidson, of course, is a few years younger, having been drafted out of high school while Gillaspie was drafted out of college. At the plate, Gillaspie made a lot more contact, while Davidson hit for more power, more evident in his doubles than his home runs. Gillaspie was more of a line-drive hitter who made more contact.

Davidson should be expected to develop into more of a power-hitting third baseman, more of a Joe Crede type. I never saw Joe Crede in the minors, but there was a time when he was considered very rough defensively, making more than 30 errors in a couple of his early minor league seasons. And it took a few years in the majors before Crede's offense clicked.

The White Sox must have seen something in Davidson to trade Reed for him. And I hope Davidson proves one of those young players that seizes his opportunity to win over the fans. He certainly has the opportunity to do so.

This trade isn't simply about 2014, of course, but going into 2014, I don't know if Davidson is a defensive upgrade over Gillaspie. I hope he is an offensive upgrade, but that, too, is uncertain.

The D-Backs are such an interesting team. First they're saying there is no power in FA, then they stretch themselves a bit thin to land Trumbo, now they turn around and deal Davidson who is considerably younger and has more pop (or the potential to add more) than Prado.

In the PCL in 2011 and 2012, Conor Gillaspie looked like a better third baseman for Fresno than Matt Davidson did for Reno in 2013. If you were to rate the two by the needs-to-be-a big-league-third-baseman standard, Gillaspie today should rank higher..

Did anyone rank Gillespie ahead of Davidson? San Fran basically gave him to us.
That said, I wouldn't dump Gillespie. His defense was spotty, bad at times but pretty good at times. He made some contact and played hard. Keep him around. Keppinger's the one that needs to go (and anyone who watched the Astros a lot would never would have wanted us to sign him in the first place).
We have some young arms that can replace Reed.
Hahn has done a good job of negotiating deals. He's getting ML ready talent; teams like the Cubs take lower-level prospects, speckled with Edwin Jackson signings. Cubs may be good soon enough, but it's a different approach.
And the other nice thing is that we've gotten several ML players, trading veterans of a 60 win team rather than prospects. And no lagniappe thrown in in these trades. We still need more players, we're still razor thin, but progress is being made.
One other aspect- Keith Law (I know) points out that there is a lack of 3B prospects in the minors and in the majors. So I'll take this guy for Reed, and keep Gillespie around too to see if he can improve.

Did anyone rank Gillespie ahead of Davidson? San Fran basically gave him to us.
That said, I wouldn't dump Gillespie. His defense was spotty, bad at times but pretty good at times. He made some contact and played hard. Keep him around. Keppinger's the one that needs to go (and anyone who watched the Astros a lot would never would have wanted us to sign him in the first place).
We have some young arms that can replace Reed.
Hahn has done a good job of negotiating deals. He's getting ML ready talent; teams like the Cubs take lower-level prospects, speckled with Edwin Jackson signings. Cubs may be good soon enough, but it's a different approach.
And the other nice thing is that we've gotten several ML players, trading veterans of a 60 win team rather than prospects. And no lagniappe thrown in in these trades. We still need more players, we're still razor thin, but progress is being made.
One other aspect- Keith Law (I know) points out that there is a lack of 3B prospects in the minors and in the majors. So I'll take this guy for Reed, and keep Gillespie around too to see if he can improve.

I agree that Gillespie should be kept on the team, with Keppinger out of here. We can always use Conner's left bat, platooning with Davidson, maybe. First year in the new league for Conner....I think he will be better second time around.

It does make it a bit tougher to fit everyone in...with PK back.
Would like to see Leuery Garcia up also, and he can play outfield.

Trade Keppinger, and probably DeAza, and bring in Davidson,Eaton to replace them, leave Conner and Garcia as utility guys.

Davidson has been a top 100 prospect each of the last few years. What he projects to be offensively is above average - 275 average 20 + homers .370 OBP .800 plus OBPS. His defense is good enough. He is not going to win a gold glove, but he is not going to be Miguel Cabrera over there either with the glove. Davidson was slated to be the starting 3b before they got Trumbo. After they got him, that pushed Prado over to 3b and Davidson was left without a home.

He is another solid, young, high ceiling talent. He will be on base a lot. I think if he hits his ceiling, think Youklis in his prime, but I expect him to be a little bit below that.

In terms of internally, personally, I think you see Jones move to closer and Webb moved up to the bigs. We have a surplus of young bullpen arms.

In the PCL in 2011 and 2012, Conor Gillaspie looked like a better third baseman for Fresno than Matt Davidson did for Reno in 2013. If you were to rate the two by the needs-to-be-a big-league-third-baseman standard, Gillaspie today should rank higher.

.........
This trade isn't simply about 2014, of course, but going into 2014, I don't know if Davidson is a defensive upgrade over Gillaspie. I hope he is an offensive upgrade, but that, too, is uncertain.

Gillaspie simply has never had the potential of Davidson. Conor has never been a top 100 prospect, Davidson will be for the 4th year in a row. Conor never really was rated highly with his tools, where Davidson was given BA's nod as best Power hitter in the Dbacks system and best Power Hitter in the southern league in 2012. Davidson has a nice ceiling.

Hmm. I've read reports that Abreu is well above adequate at 1b...I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

I have to say, Davidson's fielding percentage is worrisome. Yeah, F% doesn't tell you much, unless it's really low. At some point, its not humanly possibly to have the range or create enough double plays to make up for booting 1/10 of your chances.

I agree that Gillespie should be kept on the team, with Keppinger out of here. We can always use Conner's left bat, platooning with Davidson, maybe. First year in the new league for Conner....I think he will be better second time around.

It does make it a bit tougher to fit everyone in...with PK back.
Would like to see Leuery Garcia up also, and he can play outfield.

Trade Keppinger, and probably DeAza, and bring in Davidson,Eaton to replace them, leave Conner and Garcia as utility guys.

I agree with the concept of trading Keppinger, but does anyone seriously think there's a market for him? I'm not sure the Sox could give him away.

I agree that Gillespie should be kept on the team, with Keppinger out of here. We can always use Conner's left bat, platooning with Davidson, maybe. First year in the new league for Conner....I think he will be better second time around.

It does make it a bit tougher to fit everyone in...with PK back.
Would like to see Leuery Garcia up also, and he can play outfield.

Trade Keppinger, and probably DeAza, and bring in Davidson,Eaton to replace them, leave Conner and Garcia as utility guys.

I wouldn't mind seeing L Garcia in AAA...may be a good idea to get him nightly ABs to see if he can make progress with the stick (necessary to take over for Alexei); Elrod can play utility infielder. Yes, we are logjammed with 3B/1B types.

I'm also liking the negotiating skills of Rick Hahn. He's not piling prospects and stuff on these trades...he's walking away if he doesn't like the deal. It may have cost us when dumping Rios, but it will pay long term benefits.